Road Trip
by Mystified Dreamer
Summary: RT: Rory and Tristan spend countless hours in a car together. [Chap-9] "He knew he should let go. He knew that if he held on to her, he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to kiss her. But he was never one to have much self control."
1. Chapter 1

**Road Trip**

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary_: **Rory and Tristan are paired up for a class trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens when chemistry starts brewing, and denial runs its course?

**_Rating_:**PG13

**_A/N: _**This is my first fanfic ever, feedback would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Rory rummaged through her locker for her books that she would need for that afternoon.

"Hello, Mary." Tristan said as he leaned against a neighboring locker.

"Go away, Tristan."

"My, my, where are our manners today?"

"Why couldn't your parents keep you in military school?"

"I was on good behavior and I just couldn't stand being apart from my Mary."

"Whatever. Leave me alone." And with that Rory walked off, but Tristan followed her and slung his arm over her shoulder.

"Why are you following me?" she asked as she shrugged off his arm, only to find it over her shoulders again two seconds later.

"What makes you think I'm following you?"

"Well for starters I told you to leave me alone and when I walked off you came with me." She said shrugging of his arm again.

The bell rang.

"I have the same class as you."

"Oh."

"Great, isn't it?"

"No."

They entered the class. Rory sat up near the front so that she could hear the teacher better and take good notes, Tristan usually sat at the back with his friends, but he wanted to sit with Rory so he climbed into the seat next to her.

"Ugh, why can't you sit somewhere else?"

"Because I want to sit with you."

"Well I don't want you sitting with me."

"Why? Will I make you lose your concentration?" Edging closer to her, sending shiver down her spine. _'Why_ _does he have to be so close'_ she thought.

"How is it that you can always manage to twist things around so that they're in your favor? Go annoy somebody else."

"Is that a yes?"

"NO!"

"Mr. DuGrey and Miss Gilmore would you care to share your discussion with the rest of the class?" Mr. Callaway asked, class had started.

"Ummm, no. Sorry, sir." Rory blushed.

Tristan just smirked.

"Well then I would like to get started with class."

Mr. Callaway turned back to the rest of the class.

"Well we have a new assignment where we will be going away on a class trip for a few days, part of it will take place during the weekend and you must get your teachers to sign this allowing you permission to be excused from class for a few days." the teacher said handing out a small booklet, "and of course you will need your parents' permission. In this booklet is a list of the things you will need to bring, and the sections of the assignment which will be due a week after the trip. You will be paired off into groups of four, in which you will complete the assignment with and stay with during the trip. Yes, you can pick a partner, but the two of you will randomly be paired off with another two."

Rory looked around the class, and Paris caught her eye, the two had recently decided to be friends, they both nodded to each other, agreeing to be partners.

Tristan knew that the chances of Rory agreeing to be his partner would be like the chances of seeing a pig fly, so he saved himself the trouble and paired up with his friend Kyle, praying to God that they would be paired up with Rory and her partner.

Mr. Callaway continued, "Could you please write down your partner and your name on a piece of paper and hand them up front."

Everyone did as they were told.

Rory was praying that she and Paris would not be paired up with Tristan.

Seeing the expression on Rory's face, Tristan leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Are you really that scared that you won't get paired up with me? I mean, if I knew you wanted me so bad I would have just asked you to be my partner in the first."

Trying to ignore the tingling sensation she got, she said, "You're impossible!"

"Thank you." It took a lot of strength to keep him from just kissing her right now, being so close.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Well it was to me."

Rory just sighed and shook her head.

Mr. Callaway, along with everyone else in the school, was very aware of the relationship between Rory and Tristan, or whatever you would call it, and he'd thought that since this school was lacking a bit of drama, he'd spice things up a little bit.

"So the groups are as follows, Ally and Christy with David and Todd, Haley and Maria with Josh and Chris, Madeline and Louise with Steve and Alex, Rory and Paris with Tristan and Kyle..."

Rory and Paris groaned. Kyle and Tristan just smirked. For once, Rory and Paris had the same thought, _Kyle isn't that bad, but five days with Tristan is going to be a living hell_.

Mr. Callaway finished with the groups and started explaining the assignment. "Now this trip is more like a road trip," _'Great, I'm going to be stuck in a car with Tristan and Paris for days.'_ "The directions are included in the booklet. You will make numerous stops at different places which are also listed. You will have to learn to interact with the people in your group whether you like it or not. I advise you to keep notes on everything because when you come back you will have to write an essay about what you learned about each other, and what you learned about the places that you went to. It will be due one week after the trip. Don't even think about driving off somewhere else because you must check in at all locations, any questions? Great."

The rest of the class was spent discussing the details of the trip; then the bell rang.

Rory packed up her books and got out as quickly as she could, but not quick enough.

"So, you and me in a car for countless hours, just imagine the possibilities." Tristan smirked as he walked beside Rory.

"You better watch it Bible Boy because I'm telling you in advance that I will not be held responsible for my actions."

"I second that." Paris said as she joined them.

"Bible Boy?"

"Yes, Bible Boy. You call me Mary, so I call you Bible Boy."

"Making up nicknames for me already?"

"You are so infuriating!"

Paris watched the two bicker, this was going to be a long trip.

* * *

"No!" Lorelai gasped as she heard the news.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Mom!"

"Ok! Ok! Aww, honey, I'm so sorry!"

"Can you just not sign the permission slip or make up some kinda of story about me being attacked by a hippo?"

"As much as I hate having to see you go on a road trip for five days with the Spawn of Satan, and as much as I would love to make up that story about you and the hippo, it is my duty as a responsible parent to make you go."

"Responsible parent?"

"Ya, just pretend I never said that, it just sounded good for a moment there."

"Ok."

"At a time like this, a girl needs coffee."

"Lukes?"

"Where else? It's not like the coffee machine, or any other of our appliances, are working. Remind me to get a new one; you know it's one of the things I just can't live without."

* * *

Tristan couldn't stop smiling. Five whole days with Rory Gilmore. Yes there would be Paris and Kyle, but he'd work something out with them. This was going to be so much fun.

"Ummm, ok. Stop smiling."

He turned around to find his older brother, Jason, giving him a weird look.

"What?" Tristan asked as Jason slipped into the seat next to him.

"You haven't stopped smiling since you came home. Was she really that good?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well your flavor of the week..." giving him an isn't-it-obvious look, "was she really that good?"

"I don't have a flavor of the week."

"You can't be serious."

"I am. I have decided to stop dating girls like it's a game, they deserve some respect."

"What the hell?"

"I'm serious, I haven't slept with a girl since-" he was about to say since he met Rory, but decided not to mention this to his brother otherwise he would never hear the end of it, " -since a while ago."

Knowing Tristan for so long, he knew him better than anyone, and that there was more to it than that. "So who is she then?"

"What?"

"Well," giving him another isn't-it-obvious look, "it's obviously because you've got your eye on some other girl. Who is she?"

Tristan sighed, defeated, "Her name's Rory Gilmore, she's unlike anyone I've ever met, but she won't go out with me because she hates me."

"Gilmore, huh? Mom and Dad would be happy with that. She must be pretty amazing to have this kind of effect on you, not the mention and pretty smart for not going out with you, but it still doesn't explain why you're smiling. Oh wait, I see, it has something to do with her, doesn't it?"

"You know me very well, too well in fact."

"I know, it's scary. So what happened? Or what's going to happen?"

"Well you see, there's this five day class road trip and she's in my group, of course there's still two other people, but that's ok. Can you believe it? Five whole days with Rory Gilmore."

"Uh huh, a road trip with the girl of your dreams, so you can't stop smiling."

"Mmm hmm," Tristan replied dreamily before noticing Jason shaking his head, "What?"

"You're a lovesick puppy."

"No I'm not." Secretly knowing that in fact he was.

"Yes you are."

"Did you just call me a puppy?"

"A lovesick puppy. Which kinda makes it worse."

"Don't ever call me a puppy again."

"Puppy." Jason teased as he dodged a hit from Tristan.

* * *

"Morning Mary." Tristan greeted while leaning against a neighboring locker, he'd found himself doing this a lot lately.

"Hi Tristan."

"Did you just say hi to me?"

"Yes, I did."

"No 'go away Tristan' or 'leave me alone'? You actually say 'Hi, Tristan'?"

"Look, we're going to be on a road trip for five days. If we both want to have our heads by the end of this trip we should agree to be civil to each other. I want to get a good grade on this assignment."

"Ummm, ya, sure." _'Oh my God! Does this mean she doesn't hate me?'_

There was an awkward silence, they just stared at each other.

_'God she's beautiful. If only I could just kiss her right now...'_ Tristan thought.

_'He looks kinda cute, those eyes are amazing... wait- what? This is Tristan! Evil Tristan! Even though we are now being civil to each other it doesn't change the fact that he is the Spawn of Satan! But those shoulders look so nice and broad- stop!' _Rory thought.

Then the bell rang. Snapping them both out of their trance.

"Ahh, I better get to class."

"Umm, ya, same. I'll see you later."

"Ya, bye."


	2. Chapter 2

**Road Trip**

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

_**Summary:**_ Rory and Tristan are paired up for a school trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens chemistry starts brewing, and denial runs its course?

_**Rating: **_PG13

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Rory! You're killing me here! There's a perfectly good cup of coffee right in front of me and if you don't finish it up soon it's going to get all cold and wasted! You can not just waste the Elixir of Life! For the punishment would just be too morbid!" Lorelai said dramatically, "And there's nothing I can do about it! No! Wait! I know what to do!" more or less saying the last statement to herself.

"Mom! No! Put down that mug! That's my cup! You've already had your share this morning." Rory said as she entered the kitchen and taking the coffee out of her mother's hands.

"But I was going to drink that!"

"Too bad, it's mine!"

Lorelai sighed as she watched her daughter drink the holy liquid. "So you really have to go for five WHOLE days?"

"Yes, unfortunately. It's even more unfortunate that I'll be having to spend them with Paris and Tristan. But it's a big part of my mark."

"Oh, mark shmark. Stay here and entertain mommy."

"Hey! You're the one that gave me permission to go and now you're telling me to stay? Sometimes I just don't understand you."

"But I wasn't thinking then! I must have been lacking coffee. A woman can not be held responsible for her actions when she has a shortage of caffeine in her body!"

"You had eight cups that morning."

"Exactly my point!"

"Ok, mom."

"Does that mean you're staying home?" Lorelai asked eagerly.

"No."

Lorelai pouted. "So when are you leaving?"

"In like, five minutes, Tristan's picking me up and then we're going to get Paris and Kyle."

"Since when was it Tristan? Why have you stopped calling him Evil Tristan or Spawn of Satan or Bible Boy? What happened?!?!! TELL ME!!"

"Nothing happened. We just decided to be civil to each other because we were going to be on a road trip together for five days and I wanted to get a good mark."

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Lorelai demanded.

"Because we just decided yesterday."

"You decided YESTERDAY?! Why wasn't I told about this YESTERDAY?"

"Because it wasn't important."

"Because it wasn't important?!?!"

"No."

"No?!?!"

"Stop repeating what I say."

"Stop repeati- oh. I still think that that is a vital piece of information and that I should have been informed that you two are now friends."

"We're not exactly friends. We're just civil to each other, that's all."

"Whatever you say."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Well it meant something!"

"Oh look I think that's Bible Boy's car. You'd think that he'd be driving a nice flashy sports car or something."

Rory looked out the window to find Tristan getting out of a silver pick-up.

"Mom please keep in mind that we are going on a road trip."

"Right."

The doorbell rang and Lorelai went to answer it while Rory went to get her stuff, which seemed to have increased in weight. 'That's funny, I could have sworn it was like have the weight of this when I packed it.' Little did she know that Lorelai had slipped in a few articles of clothing that were not exactly Rory's style of clothing. She didn't actually expect Rory to wear them of course, but it would just to freak her out, and if she was lucky, Paris would be there when she was unpacking, the look on her face would just be priceless.

Tristan waited anxiously outside. _'Five whole days with Rory Gilmore, five whole days with Rory Gilmore.'  
_  
I woman opened the door and he immediately turned into charming mode.

"Hello, I'm Tristan DuGrey. And you must be Ms. Gilmore, it's a pleasure to meet you." And he stuck out his hand.

"Cut the charming act kid, my daughter's told me about you. You are known as Evil Tristan in this household. And no Ms. Gilmore or ma'am stuff, it makes me sound so old, call me Lorelai." And she took shook his hand.

"Ok. Nice to meet you Lorelai."

"Rory will be down in a sec."

Rory came down the stairs with her bag thumping behind her.

"Mom, did you put some stuff in here while I wasn't looking again?"

Lorelai made a guilty face.

"Ugh, well now I don't have time to unpack that stuff. I'll just have to deal with you when I get home."

"How so?"

"I'm going to tell Luke not to give you coffee."

Lorelai gasped, "You _wouldn't_!"

"Oh yes I would."

"But that's murder!"

"I know!"

Tristan just smiled to himself, now he knew where Rory got her coffee addiction from; her mother.

"Hey Tristan, it'd be nice if I had some help here."

"Oh right. Here." And he helped carry her stuff into the car.

"Well at least he has manners, and you failed to tell me that he is hot as hell." Lorelai said as she watched Tristan struggle to put the bag in the trunk.

"Bye Mom, love you."

"Love you too babe, don't do anything I would." she yelled after her as Rory went down the steps.

Call it a mother's instinct, but she had a feeling that something was going to happen between those to during the trip, by the way Rory talked about him, it was only a matter of time.

* * *

"You're late!!!" Paris stated as she threw her stuff in the trunk and climbed in the back seat with Kyle.

"Sorry Paris, but Rory had to stop by Luke's to get coffee." Tristan said.

"SO?!?! You should have planned that ahead of time so that you would pick her up earlier to avoid a schedule change."

"What schedule change?" Rory asked, "We're only seven minutes late."

"Which puts us seven minutes behind schedule, causing a chain reaction throughout the rest of the schedule that I had planned out to be delayed by seven minutes."

"You made a schedule?"

"Of course, we must plan out our activities step by step so that we will reach out destinations on time, with still enough time to explore our surroundings and to work on our notes. Failure to complete these tasks will lead to inadequate use of time."

The other three raised their eyebrows at her.

"What?"

Tristan shook his head and started the car, "This is going to be a long trip."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Good."

They rode in silence for about half an hour, with Paris scolding Tristan on his driving skills here and there.

"Can we get some coffee?" Rory asked.

"You've already had three cups." Tristan replied.

"So?"

"So, it's bad for you."

"Never deny a Gilmore coffee."

"I just did."

"Stop the car."

"Why?"

"Because there's a coffee shop around the corner."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"We've already passed the coffee shop."

"Damn you."

"Now, now, Mary. It's just a cup of coffee."

"_Just_?! Coffee can NEVER be referred to as _just_. It is the essence of life and no one, and I mean no one, should live without it."

"But I just referred to it as _just_ so I guess the part where you said coffee can never be referred to as _just_ was a false statement."

"Well then take it back."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"SHUT UP!!!!!!" Paris yelled from the back seat, "Tristan, stop at the next coffee shop you see so Rory here can be satisfied and be quiet!!!! And Rory, after you get that coffee, stop asking for more every half an hour!!!!!!!"

"Jeez Paris! You just woke me up from a perfectly good nap." Kyle whined, "Could you keep it down a little?"

Paris gave him a death glare.

"Point taken."

"Out of all the people, why did we have to get paired up with you two? We all know that by the end of this trip Paris will have bitten both your heads off. This is going to be hell." Rory stated.

"No need to pretend you're not happy, Mary. We all know that you're ecstatic about being in a car with me for countless hours."

"As if."

"You know, I could always work something out with Paris and Kyle if you us to be alone."

"Ugh."

Tristan smirked. This was going to be fun.

* * *

"First stop. Makelster's Lake." Tristan announced.

They got their belongings out of the trunk and headed to where the rest of the class was standing.

"Well nice to see that you've all made it here in one piece." Mr. Callaway said to them, "So now that we're all here, your groups will be assigned to your cabins, Group A will be in Cabin A, Group B will be in Cabin B, you get the point. Meet back here in forty-five minutes. Off you go."

Everyone headed of to their cabins.

"Great," Rory mumbled, "I didn't know that this road trip was going to be all nature-y."

"Hey, at least we'll be staying in cabins." Tristan said.

"For now. I heard someone say that we'll be going camping later."

"It won't be so bad."

"Yes it will. There'll be a bunch of bugs. I hate bugs. Plus it's probably going to be cold and wet." Rory said as she felt a few drops of rain landing on her.

"Don't worry, Mary, I'll protect you from the big bad bugs and the horrible, dangerous rain."

Rory rolled her eyes.

Paris and Kyle looked at the two as they continued to banter on. Paris thought, _'Those two are so getting together by the end of this trip.'  
_

The four of them entered the cabin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Road Trip**

_**Disclaimer:** _I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary_:** Rory and Tristan are paired up for a school trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens when chemistry starts brewing and denial runs its course?

**_Rating_: **PG13

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Omg, this is so nice!" Rory said as she looked around the cozy little cabin.

There was a little living room connected to a small kitchen; a bathroom, and two bedrooms with two twin beds in each.

"I'm going to run an inspection." Paris stated.

"An inspection?" asked Kyle.

"Yes, you never know what these places might have. There might be mold under the sink, dead bugs under the bed, or worst, a nest, unstable furniture, I could go on but that would just be a waste of my time." And she started to walk off for her little inspection.

"We're only going to be staying here for a night. We'll be leaving tomorrow after lunch for another car ride in hell."

"How can you call it hell when all you do is sleep?"

"Just because I close my eyes and pretend to snore doesn't mean that I'm actually sleeping. I can hear pretty much everything you know."

"You pretend to snore."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"So it seems like I'm asleep so that you guys will be quiet so that I can actually _be_ asleep."

"Kyle we don't care enough about you to be worried if we're going to wake you up."

"Ya, I know."

"Then why do you still pretend to snore?"

"'Cause I know it bugs you."

"I hate you."

"I love you too, Paris."

Paris stormed off in a huff, mumbling something inaudible.

Kyle just shrugged and went into one of the rooms.

"Well I can tell those two are going to get along." Tristan said.

"Like anyone gets along with Paris." Rory remarked.

"Well you do, don't you? I mean, aren't you two friends?"

"Ya, but that doesn't exactly mean I enjoy her company all the time, you know how Paris can be."

"Yes, but you still get along don't you?"

"Occasionally."

"Like you an me?"

"Well I wouldn't exactly call you Paris." Rory snorted.

"You know what I mean. Like, get alone occasionally."

"I guess."

"So does that mean we're friends?"

"Ummm, ya." She smiled.

"K." '_Well at least she doesn't hate me.'_

"Mmm hmm."

"Yup."

The two stared at each other, not quite knowing what to say.

Paris, who was inspecting the bedroom that the boys were staying in, and Kyle, watched the two, staring at each other, lost in their own little world.

"How much do you wanna bet that those two are going to hook up by the end of this trip?" Paris whispered to Kyle.

"I don't know, they just started being friends. Plus Rory seems oblivious to the whole thing."

"Fifty bucks?"

"Deal."

They shook hands before heading out.

"Well, inspection's done. I think this will pass."

Paris' voice snapped both Rory and Tristan out of their trance.

"Ok. Let's go then." Kyle said.

"They better have good food." Rory mumbled as the four teenagers went outside into the rain and walked toward the main building.

"This is a school outing, so I doubt it." Tristan replied.

"Well I did not go for a three hour drive with you and Paris for bad food. Especially if the weather's this crappy. Eww! Bug!" She said swatting a mosquito.

"No, you didn't. You did it for your grade."

"Shut up."

"Grumpy are we?"

"No."

"Then why are you pouting?"

"Because."

"Because..."

"I said shut up."

"I could think of a few ways to make you happy." Tristan said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ugh."

They reached the rest of the class.

"Ok," Mr. Callaway began, "Now that we're all here, let's not waste any time getting started. Everyone grab a fishing rod and a supply box, we're going fishing!"

Practically everyone groaned.

"Well you didn't really think that you were going to have people you serving you dinner now did you? Why else do you think those cabins have kitchens? After you catch the fish, you're going to go back to your cabin and cook your fish. The supplies should be in there already, if not, come and see me."

"Great. Just what I need, I fishing trip." Rory mumbled.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Tristan said as they made their way to the lake.

"No it won't."

"Have you ever gone fishing before?"

"No."

"Then how do you know it won't be fun?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's pouring rain, I'm soaked, I'm cold, I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm grumpy, and I'm going to be sitting by a freezing lake holding a stick over the water for eternity." she said sarcastically.

"Ok, it's not pouring rain, well, maybe it is, yes, you're soaked, you look cold and tired, you seem hungry, you are so, very grumpy, you will be sitting by a freezing lake holding a _fishing rod_ over the water, but it'll just be for a little while."

"Are there even fish in a lake at this temperature?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes, Mary, I don't think they'd be telling us to go fishing in a fish-less lake."

"You never know..."

"Right."

* * *

"Ok, I've been sitting here for hours." Rory said, holding her fishing rod over the lake.

"Mary, we've been here for two minutes." Tristan said.

"Well it seems like hours." She mumbled, "Hey! You gotta fish already!"

"Yes, I did."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"Umm, I just caught it."

"And you said we haven't been here for hours!" she said throwing one of her arms up in the air.

"Well we haven't."

Rory eyes him for a moment, the smiles angelically.

"Tristan?" she asks sweetly.

"Yes..."

"We're friends right?"

"Yes..."

"And friends do things for each other right...?"

"Yes..."

"Sooooooo, I was thinking since you're such a good friend that you would, ummm, be willing to, possibly, maybe, give me that fish that you ever so brutally killed?"

"Now why would I do something like that?"

"Because I'm you're friend..."

"Right. And what would I get in return?"

"Can't you just give it to me out of the goodness of your heart?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Fine. Then... ummm... well what do you want?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"No. I'll... I'll... ummmm... give you a nice big hug?"

Tristan smiled, "Ok."

"Really?"

"Ya."

Pause.

"Hug?" "Fish?" Rory and Tristan said in unison.

"Fine, hug first."

Rory put down here fishing rod and wrapped her arms around Tristan, a surge of energy going through both of them at the contact.

_'Omg, she smells so damn good. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she's too close... way too close.'_ Tristan thought.

_'God this feels good. Hmmmmmmmm... wow, this is lasting longer that I intended...'_ Rory thought.

They both just stood there in each other's arms, both trying to ignore the wonderful sensation that they were both getting.

_'Ok, I've got to pull away before I do something I'll regret.' _They both thought.

They retreated, an awkward silence coming over them as they stared at each other.

Tristan was first to say something, "Uhhh, here's your fish." He handed her the fish and she took it, neither of them breaking eye contact.

"Thanks."

"I should probably get another one then."

"Ummm, ya, of course."

A few minutes later, they began walking back to their cabin, each with the fish that they had caught, well, that Tristan had caught.

"You think we should wait for Paris and Kyle?" Rory asked as she glanced back at them.

Paris was currently yelling at Kyle, blaming him that he had made her lose her fish, and Kyle just seemed to be agreeing with everything she was saying, and saying it was his fault, just to shut Paris up, but of course that wasn't doing any good.

"Uh, I think they'll be a while. We should go, plus I'm looking forward to seeing you cook." He said with a smirk.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. The last time my mom and I attempted to cook, we ended up with three firemen in our kitchen."

Tristan laughed. "I wish I could've seen that."

"No you wouldn't. It was truly horrifying. We pre-heated the oven without knowing that we had thrown a bunch of stuff in there when my Grandma said that she was coming for a surprise visit and we had to clean up the house in like, ten minutes. So we kinda burned a bunch of stuff which was a real bummer. Mr. Ickumbobbers was a total lost, he was a plastic frisbee by he cooled off. Plus my mom threw the pan of so called cake batter in the air when she saw smoke coming out of the oven and smelt the disgusting smell of burning... everything, and it landed on top of the very unstable bag of flour which kinda went topsy turvy."

"I'm not even going to ask who or what Mr. Ickumbobbers was."

"Good idea."

"So I guess that pretty much rules you out, which leaves me to do all the cooking."

"Ha! You cooking, that's funny!" Rory snorted.

"What? You don't think I can cook?"

"No, I don't."

"Well I guess I'll just have to prove you wrong then."

"I guess so."

* * *

"Omigosh! I SO need to take a picture!" Rory squealed as she ran to get her camera.

Tristan was in a frilly peach colored apron (it was the only one available that wasn't covered in some kind of moldy leftover cooking) while holding a spatula in his hand and standing by the stove.

"Smile!" she said gleefully as Tristan posed for the picture.

"If you ever show that picture to anyone, I just might have to kill you."

"Well then I guess I'll just have to take my chances, because there is absolutely no way that I'm ever going to let you live down that photo. How'd you learn to cook anyway?"

"Well not everyone needs classes to learn how to cook you know. All you're basically doing is throwing a bunch of stuff together over a stove."

"Well then you're just gifted."

"I know. I'm amazing aren't I?"

"No, just gifted."

* * *

"Do you think we should go check on Paris and Kyle? They've been gone an offly long time." Rory asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Knowing them, Paris is probably yelling at Kyle again for making her lose her fish."

"Ha, ha. By the way, I underestimated your cooking skills, I usually hate fish, but this is pretty good!"

"What'd I tell you? I am amazing."

Rory rolled her eyes, "I'll note to myself not to give you compliments again. Your ego is big enough as it is."

They continued talking and eating their dinner when the front door swung open to reveal a very, very, VERY angry, soaking wet Paris covered in mud and a very tired Kyle, who was also covered in mud, though not as much as Paris.

When Rory and Tristan saw them they couldn't help but laugh. The mud covered teenagers just stood there.

"Oh you think this is funny now do you? Well news flash! IT'S NOT!!!!!!!!!! I MEAN, LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Oh, we're sorry, Paris. We really- hahaha- shouldn't be laughing., w- what happened?" Tristan said, stifling another chuckle.

"Wouldn't you like to know? ASK THIS IDIOTIC MORON HERE!!!!!!" Paris yelled and she stormed off into her room.

"Kyle?" Rory asked, a firm smile still planted on her face.

"I hate that bitch. She's a bitchy bitch that acts bitchy all day long."

"Now tell us something we don't know."

"She was yelling at me –yet again- about making her lose her fish when it was evidently all her fault, and I was ignoring her because I was sick of hearing her blame it all on me, which got her even more mad, so she dove for my fishing rod and –whoops! Slippity slip slip. Tumble in the mud. And of course she's blaming the whole freakin' incident on me."

"I'm surprised you two didn't fall in the lake." Tristan said, still smiling.

"Oh but SHE did fall in the lake, I almost did, but not quite."

"What kind of flowers would you like for your funeral? 'Cause we all know you'll be dead by morning." Rory stated.

"Thanks." He mumbled as he walked to his room, saying many more inaudible things, most likely about Paris.

"I feel sorry for them-" her and Tristan just stare at each other smiling, "......almost."

"I know!" Tristan snorted, "Did you see them? They looked hilarious! You should have gotten a picture!"

"I did!"

"You did?"

"You were too busy laughing to notice. Now I'm going to have to guard that camera with my life."

"Paris is going to kill you."

"Go figure."


	4. Chapter 4

**Road Trip**

_**Disclaimer:** _I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary_:** Rory and Tristan are paired up for a school trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens when chemistry starts brewing and denial runs its course?

**_Rating_: **PG13

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

The four teenagers sat at the kitchen table eating their breakfast of burnt eggs and bacon, courtesy of the half-asleep Tristan. Paris was throwing Kyle death glares, Kyle was mumbling about a bitchy Paris, and Rory was like Tristan, still half-asleep. Both had barely gotten any sleep due to the fact that Paris and Kyle were muttering in their sleep about killing each other; surprise, surprise.

"I need coffee." Rory mumbled.

"They didn't have any." Tristan replied groggily.

"I need coffee."

"No you don't."

"Ok." She said, feeling her eyelids drooping yet again.

"WHAT?!?" the three yelled, snapping Rory awake.

"I DID'T DO IT!" she yelled, then realizing that she had been half dreaming (a/n: I'm not sure if that's possible but in this case it is), blushed and found that her burnt breakfast was very fascinating.

"Mary, you did realize what you just said, right?"

"Ummm...no."

"Didn't think so." The three teenagers responded in unison.

"What'd I say?"

"That you didn't need coffee." Tristan said.

"WHAT?!?"

"Precisely our reaction."

"I did NOT say that."

"Well, _I_ said you didn't need coffee then you agreed with me and kinda fell asleep on the spot."

"I woman can not be held responsible for her actions with a de-caffeinated brain." she mumbled.

* * *

"Have I mentioned that this trip sucks?" Rory asked they walked down a path around the lake.

"Not in the past sixteen seconds you haven't" Tristan replied.

"Well this trip sucks."

"And so I've heard."

"Why couldn't it be sunny? It's so cold."

"I could warm you up." Tristan grinned.

"Be quiet you. I still don't understand why we need to go 'exploring' as Mr. Callaway puts it, and 'drink in the natural beauty of our surroundings'. I don't see anything pretty. It's all grey and muddy and wet."

"I see something pretty."

"What?"

"You."

Rory rolled her eyes, "You do realize that your charm doesn't work on me, right?"

"We'll see about that, everyone gives in eventually."

"Well good luck with that."

"Thanks, not that I need it." He smirked. _'Like hell I don't.'_

"Ego check Mr. Dugrey."

"You really are though, you know that right?"

"Huh? I really am what?" she asked, confused.

"Pretty."

"Gee I'm flattered." She said sarcastically.

He just smiled.

"I mean, how many times have you said that to a girl?" she asked.

"You'd be the first."

"I'm sure."

"I'm serious. All the girls I've been with already know that their pretty."

"How is it that you manage to get so bored of them so quickly anyways?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, knowing exactly what she meant.

"I mean, how can jump from one girl to another every single week."

"They're not very interesting."

"Then why bother going out with them in the first place?"

He shrugged.

"Makes me fell wanted I guess."

"Makes you feel wanted?"

"Ya."

"Why do you need airheads to make you feel wanted?"

"It's not like anybody else cares. My family sure as hell doesn't, besides my grandfather." He was getting uncomfortable talking about the subject.

"Tris, I'm sure they do."

He snorted.

Sensing that it was a touchy topic for him she decided to change the subject, "Where are Paris and Kyle?" she asked.

"I don't know, but we should probably find them before they kill each other." he said, relieved that she stopped talking about it.

"Ha, no kidding."

The two found Paris yelling at Kyle. Big shocker.

"Get out of my way!!!!!!!!!" Paris screamed as Kyle walked in her path.

"Ever heard of manners, Geller?" Kyle replied, annoyed at the fact the she was screaming at him... again.

"Yes, but it's not like I'm going to use them with you!!! Now move!!!!!"

"Only if you say please."

"Look Kyle, I already hate you, so get out of the way before I hurt you!!!!!!!"

"Ooooooh, I'm so scared. Remember the last time you got physical? You ended up in the lake, not to mention covered in mud." He said, still not budging.

Paris thought about this for a moment, still fuming, she said, "Get out of my way........... please." glaring at him.

"Now that's a good girl." He said as he stepped aside.

Paris started walking back, followed closely by Kyle, much to Paris' dismay.

"I wonder how the trip in the car is going to be." Rory said to Tristan.

"Just think happy thoughts, Rory, just think happy thoughts."

She let a chuckle.

"I can't wait to sit in a car for hours with a psychotic Paris. It's like a dream come true." She said sarcastically.

"Well on the bright side I'll be there."

"How is that a good thing?" she teased.

"Well I could think of a few things..."

She slapped him on the arm playfully.

"Come on let's go." Tristan said.

"Awwww... I don't wanna walk _all_ the way back."

"It's like a twenty minute walk."

"Exactly!"

"Boy, you really don't like exercise do you?"

"Ewwww, exercise."

"Come on Mary, we're going to be late."

"But I don't wanna." She whined as she slowly took a couple of steps.

"Ok, as much as I know that you wanna be alone with me I really think that we should head back, we can have plenty of alone time later."

She glared at him.

"Fine, but you asked for it." He said, walking over to her and throwing her over his shoulder.

"Tristan!!!! Put me down!!!!!" she screamed, struggling out of his grasp.

"No, if I do then there's no way that we're going to get back on time and then we're going to get in trouble."

"Since when have you been worried about getting into trouble?" Giving up and just letting Tristan carry her.

"Military school stuff tends to stick."

"That's a shock. I'm surprised they didn't make you shave your head."

"Yeah, well apparently a bald teenager isn't very acceptable for Hartford social events, so my dad pulled a few strings."

Then Rory started laughing.

"What?"

"I'm just picturing the mighty Tristan Dugrey bald. I wonder what the ladies would say."

"Well I'm sure they still wouldn't be able to resist the Dugrey charm."

"Somehow I think the fact that you're bald would rise over your so-called charm."

"I wouldn't count on it, but since I still have my wonderful hair I won't have to worry about that. It's actually quite amusing watching every girl fall at my feet."

Even though he couldn't see her he knew she was rolling her eyes, "Except for one." She said.

"Yea, except for one..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Road Trip**

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary_:** Rory and Tristan are paired up for a school trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens when chemistry starts brewing and denial runs its course?

**_Rating_**: PG13

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"No!!!" Paris exclaimed, struggling while Rory dragged her to the car. Literally.

"No way man!!!" Kyle exclaimed while Tristan tried to complete the same task at hand.

"We still have four more days on this trip and you two will just have to learn to co-operate. We're all going to get a bad mark because you two are acting like idiots." Tristan said, throwing Kyle in the backseat.

"Seriously Paris, what has gotten into you? Never would I have thought that Paris Geller would get into a food fight- I think I still have some lettuce in my hair- and Kyle, you should've known better and kept your mouth shut." Rory said as she threw Paris in with Kyle before getting into the front seat next to Tristan.

"I can't believe you're making me sit back here with her. It's like you want me dead or something." Kyle said.

Tristan started the engine and Rory turned to face the two, "We have a long drive ahead of us, so you two will just have to work something out." She turned back around and sighed, "Jeez, I feel like a mother talking to five-year-olds." but instantly regretted her words.

Tristan smirked, "So does that mean I'm the daddy?"

Rory glared at him.

Tristan just shrugged.

"Idiot!" Paris exclaimed.

"Bitch!" Kyle snapped.

"Moron!"

"Sleez bag!"

"Jerk!"

"Slut!"

"Jackass."

* * *

30 minutes later...

"Shut up!" Kyle exclaimed.

"No, you shut up!" Paris snapped.

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"WILL YOU _BOTH_ JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?!?!?!" Rory and Tristan screamed.

Silence.

"He started it." Paris said pouting and pointing an accusing finger at Kyle.

"No, she started it." Kyle scowled crossing his arms.

"No, you idiot, you started it."

"No, you did."

"No, you did."

"No, you did."

"No, you did."

"No, you did."

"YOU _BOTH_ DID!!!!!!!" Rory and Tristan screamed again.

Silence.

"I hate you." Paris said.

"I hate you more." Kyle said.

"No, I hate you more."

"No, I hate you more."

"No, I hate you more."

"No, I hate you more."'

"No, I hate you more."

"No, I hate you more."

"YOU _BOTH_ HATE EACH OTHER!!!!!!" Rory and Tristan screamed, yet again.

Silence.

"I need coffee and aspirin." Rory sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Ditto."

A few minutes later Tristan stopped in front of a corner store and he and Rory got out.

"I can just get it." Tristan said to Rory.

"You really expect me to stay in the car with those two?"

"Right."

"I can not believe them, they're acting like five-year-olds!" Rory said as they filled their coffee cups.

Rory filled up two and Tristan started to walk away to get the aspirin when he noticed Rory wasn't following him, instead, when he turned around he found that she was continuing to fill cup after cup of coffee.

"Ummmm, Ror?"

"Yea?" she answered, continuing to fill up the cups like it was the more normal thing in the world.

"I think that's enough coffee."

"What? There's only five cups."

"Which is too much already."

"One more cup, please? Then you can have two and I can have four."

"Why do you get four and I only get two?"

Rory just stared at him.

"Right, get a tray for those and I'll get the aspirin."

Rory nodded.

They reached the counter to pay for the stuff.

"You think we should get Paris and Kyle some milk?" Rory joked.

"More like some sleeping pills."

The two stood there for a moment in silence.

"I'll get them." Tristan said walking off to the drugs section again.

"We'll put it in some pop." Rory added walking off to the drinks section again.

They paid for the stuff and dropped a pill in each bottle of coke before walking back to the car.

"Here." Tristan and Rory said, shoving a bottle in each of their faces- a bit too eagerly.

Paris and Kyle gave them a weird look but took the pop nevertheless.

Half and hour later Paris and Kyle were sound asleep.

"Ahhhhh." Rory sighed.

"It's so... peaceful." Tristan said.

"I can't believe how immature they're acting."

"I've never seen them like this before, well, I've never seen anyone like this before."

"Yea."

"Well Mary, now that they're asleep, it's just you and me..." he said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up and drive."

"You know, I saw a motel back there a few minutes ago, I wouldn't mind driving back." He smirked.

"Ok."

The car screeched out of control for a moment before Tristan slammed on the brakes and it came to a sudden halt, then he stared at Rory his mouth forming an 'o'.

Rory burst out laughing, "God, Tristan! I was just kidding! You should see the look on your face right now, it's priceless!!"

Then 'click', and there was a bright flash.

"I can't wait to show my mom these pictures." Rory smiled, holding up the camera in triumph.

"Jeez Mar, don't ever scare me like that again, you could've gotten us killed!"

"Correction, _you_ could've gotten us killed since you're the one driving."

Shaking his head, Tristan went back to the road, with Rory still smiling.

* * *

**_A/N:_**I know Paris and Kyle would probably notice that their bottles were already opened and they would probably feel it when they got the pill but since this is a fanfic, they don't notice. I hope you liked that chapter, PLEASE REVIEW! --Jax


	6. Chapter 6

**Road Trip**

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary_**: Rory and Tristan are paired up for a school trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens when chemistry starts brewing and denial runs its course?

**_Rating_**: PG13

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Rory asked.

"Almost." Tristan replied.

She frowned.

"Why so glum chum?" Tristan.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Glum chum?"

"It was the first phrase that popped into my head."

Rory snorted.

"What's wrong?"

"I hate camping." she said frowning again.

Tristan rolled his eyes, "Mar, it's for one day. Less actually."

"So? I still hate it."

"Well at least it's kinda warm and it's not raining."

"Still..." she pouted, "Where are we going again?"

"Raulding Lake."

"Another Lake. This one better be nice."

"Uh huh. Do I turn right or left?"

Rory looked at the map, "Left."

They drove in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before they passed a sign that said 'Welcome to Raulding Lake' and pulled into their assigned camp ground.

"Should we wake them up?" Rory asked Tristan, indicating to Paris and Kyle in the back seat.

"Ummm, I guess." he said hesitantly.

Neither made any movement.

"You're not scared, are you?" Tristan asked.

"No, no, no. Why would I be scared? It's just Paris... a very sleepy and grumpy Paris..." Rory trailed off.

"Of course, I mean, Kyle won't bite..."

"Yea."

"Yea."

Pause.

"Maybe we could just check in with Mr. Callaway first." Rory said.

"Let's go."

The two made their way over to the teacher who was standing in the middle of the circle of student vehicles.

Mr. Callaway checked off their names and asked, "Where are Mr. Johnson and Miss Geller?"

"Sleeping in the car." they replied in unison.

He nodded his head in understanding, "Very well, you may set up camp."

Tristan and Rory grabbed a supply kit and two tents, and then made their way back towards their camp ground.

"Oh, Mr. Dugrey and Miss Gilmore?" they turned around, "Why don't you just let them get up on their own."

Tristan and Rory sighed a breath of relief, "Thank you."

Mr. Callaway chuckled and shook his head.

* * *

"OW!" Rory yelped when the tent's metal stick hit her in the face.

"You're suppose to stick it in the hole, Mary." Tristan smirked.

"Well how was I suppose to know that? I thought it would just stay down." she pouted, rubbing her nose.

"When was the last time you went camping?"

"Five years ago."

Tristan raised his eyebrows.

"Fine, ten years ago. My mom was in one of her adventurous moods. Needless to say our three day trip turned out to be a three hour trip."

Tristan snorted.

"Arg! Paris and Kyle should be helping with this." Rory said.

He raised his eyebrows again.

"Never mind." she said, "Now if I could just get this stupid thing..."

"Here." He took the rod away from her and jabbed it into the hole.

"Thanks."

"How 'bout you just get the rest of the stuff ready while I get the tents up."

"Good idea."

Tristan continued with the tents while Rory went to get their things from the truck.

Ten minutes later, Tristan stood back to admire his work, "Done!" he said.

"That was quick." Rory said as she put her and Paris's sleeping bags in one of them.

"Well I've always worked well with my hands." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes, "Come on, I wanna see the lake."

* * *

Rory gasped when she reached the lake.

"Wow." Tristan said, a bit taken aback.

She ran up to the dock with him hot on her heels.

"Omigosh, this is so nice!" she cried.

"Yea." He agreed.

"Definitely better than the other one."

"Much." He looked at her, the sunlight shone against her face and her hair was blowing slightly from the breeze. _'God she's beautiful.'_

Then a wide smile spread across her face and she ran back.

"Where are you going?" he yelled.

"Swimming!" she threw over her shoulder.

"The lake's this way!"

"And my bathing suit's this way!"

He smiled at the thought of Rory in a bathing suit before running after her to change into his own.

* * *

Rory rummaged through her duffle looking for her tankini, then her eyes widened in horror.

"No!" she gasped. "Mom..."

Not only had her mother taken out her tankini, but she had replaced it with a string bikini. _'I am going to kill her when I get home...'_

Meanwhile, Tristan was already outside waiting for her, _'Women take forever.'_

After a long debate with herself, she finally decided to wear it. She grapped a towel and left the tent.

"Took you long enou-" Tristan stopped and gaped at the scene before him, _'Rory? In a string bikini? Damn.'_

Rory looked at Tristan, shirtless and in his trunks. _'Oh. Wow.'_

She blushed when she saw him checking her out and started making her way back to the lake, ignoring the whistles and cat calls she got from the guys in her class.

Tristan smirked, he had been so busy staring at her he _almost_ missed noticing her checking him out too, he caught up to her, "Lookin' pretty hot Mar."

Rory blushed even more, then they reached the dock. She was about to jump in, but stopped.

"Aren't you gunna get in?" Tristan asked.

"The water's cold." She said, scrunching her nose.

Tristan let out a laugh, "It's not cold, it's kinda warm."

"Not really..." Rory said, bending down and testing the water with her hand.

"Once you get in you'll warm right up."

"Yea, but..."

"Rory..."

"Wow. You said my name."

"Mary, just get in the water." she smirked.

Rory hesitated.

"Fine." Tristan said, and he swooped her into his arms.

"Omigod Tristan! Put me down!" she screamed, causing a few Chiltonites who were already in the water to look at them.

Tristan just gave her an evil grin.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Well how else are you gunna get in?"

"Tris..." she pleaded, "it's cold..."

"Hey, you're the one that wanted to go swimming."

And with that he threw her into the lake.

Seconds later Rory's head emerged from the water.

"I can not believe you just did that!"

Tristan just laughed before jumping in himself.

"Hey, it's not that cold." Rory said.

"What'd I tell ya?"

"Shut up. I'm mad at you." And she pushed his head under the water.

"Oh you are so gunna get it, Gilmore." He said, repeating her actions.

The two continued to splash and dunk each other playfully, much to their fellow Chiltonites' amusement. Could their flirting be anymore obvious?

* * *

"We should probably get back, you're gunna have to make dinner." Rory said. They had been sitting at the edge of the dock with their feet dangling in the water for about an hour, just talking.

"What do you mean, _I'm_ gunna have to make dinner?" Tristan asked as he got up and held his hand out for Rory, which she accepted.

"Well you know there's no way that I'm gunna be able to cook- especially over an open campfire- and Paris and Kyle?" she said raising her eyebrows.

"Enough said. I'm the only sane one."

"Are you inquiring that I am insane?"

He smiled, "You're insane in a good way. But Paris and Kyle? Now that's a whole different story."

Rory laughed.

* * *

The four teenagers were holding their sticks over the campfire.

Paris and Kyle hadn't said much, both were still slightly tired.

"Damnit! I burnt it again!" Rory said, blowing at her flaming marshmallow.

"What's that, the seventh one?" Tristan grinned.

"Shut up. It's not my fault."

"It's not your fault?"

"No. It's not. It's yours."

"Oh? And how is it my fault?"

"Well if you had just agreed to roast them for me in the first place..."

Tristan snorted.

"Come on Trissy... pleeeeeeease?" she pleaded giving him her best sad puppy dog face.

"Trissy?"

"Yea, I'm gunna keep calling you that until you give in."

"Well then you do that."

Rory pouted, "Fine...... Triscuit." She smiled, knowing that nickname would bug him.

Tristan choked slightly on the marshmallow he was eating, "_Triscuit?_"

"Mmm hmm." She said, nodding triumphantly.

He sighed, "Well what would I get in return this time?" he smiled at the memory of their hug.

"What?" she whined, "Do you always have to get something back?"

"Mmm hmm." He mimicked.

"I'll give you another hug?"

Tristan pondered about this for a moment, "No."

Rory scrunched her nose in thought, "What then?"

"How 'bout a kiss?"

"What?"

"On the cheek." He added.

"But-"

"No kiss. No marshmallow."

She pouted again, "Fine."

Rory leaned in a planted a feather light kiss on Tristan's cheek, it had taken him all he had to not turn slightly and capture her lips with his.

They were silent for a moment.

"Uhhh... here." He said, handing her a roasted marshmallow.

"Thanks." She smiled.

Neither of them caught the smug smile that Paris had given Kyle.

* * *

**_Chapter 6 Spoilers_:** Midnight Truth or Dare with fellow Chiltonites, Madeline and Louise in particular...


	7. Chapter 7

**Road Trip**

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary_**: Rory and Tristan are paired up for a school trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens when chemistry starts brewing and denial runs its course?

**_Rating_**: PG13

* * *

**Chapter 7**

* * *

According to Tristan's watch, it was 11:30pm, the teacher and most of their classmates had already gone to bed, but the four teenagers still remained around the campfire talking, well, Tristan and Rory were doing most of the talking and playful banter while Paris and Kyle watched in amusement.

"Hey guys!" Madeline chirped as she, Louise, Steve, and Alex joined them.

"Uhh, hey." Rory said.

"Mind if we join you?" Alex asked.

"Something tells me you'll be joining us either way." Paris said, annoyed with their interruption, the closer Tristan and Rory got, the closer she got to winning the bet she had with Kyle.

"Great!" Louise said, unaware of the unwelcoming comment.

"Let's play truth or dare." Madeline said; everyone except her and Louise groaned.

"Aren't we a bit old for that?" Paris said. She hated games like these.

"No one can be too old for Truth or Dare." Louise began, "Anyways, how 'bout you go first?"

Paris hesitated for a moment, and then smiled, "Fine. Rory, truth or dare?"

Rory glared at her, "Truth."

'_Damnit. Should've known though, Rory's not a daring person, but there's still Tristan...'_ "Ok then, ummmm, when was the last time you kissed a guy?"

(a/n: Rory and Dean never got back together the second time and Jess is on Mars, in other words, he never came to Stars Hollow.)

"What? How is that juicy information?"

"Just answer the question, Rory."

Rory pondered this for a moment, it had been a long time since she had kissed a guy, not since the breakup with Dean-wait, there was that party at Madeline's... _'Crap.'_

"Well?" Paris asked expectantly.

"Aaah, ummm..." _'Great, what am I suppose to say? I could say Dean... but then Tristan will know I'm lying. Maybe I'll just make up a guy, yea, that's what I'll do.'_, "There was this guy..."

"Wow, a guy, who would've thought?"

"A little while back..."

"Uh huh..."

"And we kissed."

"Could you stop stating the obvious and get on with the details?"

"We just went out for a couple of weeks, then we broke up."

"When?"

"I already said, a little while back."

"You're gunna have to be a little more specific than that, Rory."

"I don't know... a month or two ago?"

She sucked at this lying thing.

Paris rolled her eyes, "I just wasted a perfectly good question."

Rory smiled, "Your loss."

It was Louise's turn to ask Kyle next, but Rory didn't pay any attention, her thoughts were focused on a kiss that had occurred with a certain blonde god a few months ago... _'It was nice. Wait- what am I talking about? It wasn't nice. It was... a mistake. Yes, that's right, a mistake. Right? Yes. Of course. I hadn't enjoyed it. Not at all. Nope. Just one biiiiig mistake........... Who the hell am I kidding? It was nice. But still a mistake, we were both upset, it didn't mean anything. At all.'_

Seemingly having convinced herself, she focused her attention back to the game.

"Ok, Tristan, truth or dare?" Kyle asked.

"Truth." he replied.

_'Damnit. Would've thought he was more of a risk taker.' _"Ok then, who do you like?" Kyle seriously had no idea what else to ask, he had planned on Tristan picking a dare.

Tristan rolled his eyes at the much asked girly question. "No one." he lied.

"Yea right."

"I don't!"

"You're lying."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Whatever man." Kyle said, knowing he wasn't going to get it out of him.

* * *

"Next round!" Madeline squealed.

"What?" Rory asked.

"You know, now we go around again and you have to do the opposite of what you chose the first time."

"I've never heard of that before."

"Well I have. So-"

"That's not fair! What if I don't want to do a dare?"

"Oh Rory, you have to learn to take more risks. You're such a goody-twoshoes." Louise said.

"I am not!"

The seven other teenagers raised their eyebrows at her.

"I- I'm not- I do-" she stuttered, "Fine! But I'm not going first!"

Madeline and Louise squealed in delight while the others just rolled their eyes.

"Ok then, Tristan," Louise began, "I dare you to, ummmm... Madeline, come."

"Huh?" Tristan questioned.

"No, I meant I need to discuss this with Madeline."

The two girls walked a short distance away.

"So, I was thinking we do something with Tristan and Rory together." Louise whispered.

"Definitely, did you see the googly eyes he's been giving her?" Madeline whispered back.

"You'd have to be blind not to notice."

"So how do we actually get Rory to agree?"

"We just bring up the goody-twoshoes thing again, she hates it."

"Doubt it'll work again."

"Oh well, she has to do a dare anyways."

"Right, so what should we do?"

"Well, we are at a lake..." Louise grinned wickedly.

The two skipped back to the group.

"Aww, geez, something tells me this isn't going to be good." Tristan said when he saw the looks on their faces.

"It's not that bad, at least you're not going to have to do it alone." Madeline smirked.

"Huh?"

"Well, Rory still has to do her dare." Louise said.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Rory asked.

"Just follow us."

And they trailed behind Madeline and Louise to the lake.

* * *

"It's so dark, I can't see anything." Rory commented when they reached the dock.

"That's the whole point." Louise said.

"What do you mean?" Tristan and Rory asked in unison.

Madeline and Louise whispered their task to each of them.

"No way." Rory said, shaking her head and backing away.

Tristan just smirked at the idea.

"Oh come on, what happened to being more of a daredevil?" Madeline said.

"Well, that's just- no."

"You don't see Tristan objecting to the idea."

"I never said I'd do it." Tristan said.

"You don't need to say anything."

Tristan gave a goofy grin, though no one could see it, they just took his silence as an agreement.

"Oh come on, he's probably done this with hundreds of girls." Rory said.

"Not true."

"Whatever."

"It won't be that bad." Louise said.

"No." Rory repeated.

"Oh, come on Rory." Paris said.

"I thought you weren't a big fan of this kinda stuff."

"If I'm going to survive this trip with this idiot," she said, pointing to Kyle, "I'm going to need some entertainment to keep me on my toes."

"No."

"I'll- I'll get you coffee for a month."

Paris really wanted to win that bet, not so much for the money, she had enough of that, but because she wanted to rub it in Kyle's face when she won.

"N-no." _'Very tempting...'_

"Fine. Two months then."

_'How the hell am I suppose to refuse that?!'_

The others smiled to themselves, knowing that she was putting up a difficult battle.

"Make it three! And it has to be from Luke's!"

"Three?!"

"Take it or leave it."

"Fine."

Rory smiled triumphantly, but instantly frowned, "Oh God, what did I just agree to?"

The others smirked.

"Ummm, on second thoughts, I don't think..." Rory began.

"Too late!"

"But-"

"Should've thought it through before you agreed." Madeline said walking back, leaving Rory with Tristan, "We'll be back in five minutes."

"Have fun skinny dipping."

* * *

_'Splash'_

"Omigod it's cold!" Rory gasped when she jumped in.

_'Splash'_

"Don't worry, Mary, I'll warm you right up."

"Shut up Tristan, I can't believe I'm doing this!"

They could just make out each other's faces in the moonlight.

Then they heard shouts and whistles from the rest of the teenagers that had gone back on the dock.

"Can we get out now?" Rory pleaded.

"What?! It's been like, ten seconds, of course not!" Madeline said.

"But I'm cold!"

"Get over it. I'm sure Tristan could warm you right up." Louise grinned, "Anyways, we just wanted to make sure that you two got in, we'll be back to check on you soon."

And with that, they stalked off.

Rory groaned.

"Come on Mary, might as well make the best of it." Tristan smirked.

"Ugh!" Rory said, and she splashed him in frustration.

"Hey!" he said, splashing her back.

"What'd you do that for?!"

"You splashed me first!"

"So?"

"So?!"

"You made one of your stupid leering comments!"

"You know you like them."

_'Dunk_'

"If I remember correctly we were doing this not so long ago." Tristan said as his head emerged above water again and he pushed Rory under.

"Yea, except I wasn't cold and naked!" she exclaimed repeating his actions.

"Well I already told you I could do something about the cold part and I sure as hell don't mind the naked part."

_'Splash'Dunk'_

"Now now, Mary, don't have a temper tantrum."

"I can not believe this! The things I do for coffee..."

_'Splash'_

"What the hell was that for?" Rory exclaimed.

"Just felt like it."

"You are dead, Dugrey."

------

"Should we?" Madeline whispered as the six teenagers hid behind a bush.

"Of course!" Louise whispered back.

"You know Rory's gunna kill us for this, right?" Steve asked.

"Whatever the outcome, I'm sure it'll be worth it." Madeline said.

"Gilmore, naked, hmmmm, this is gunna be interesting." Alex grinned.

"Shut up, no one's going to be able to see anything, it's pitch dark." Paris said.

"I don't know why Rory was objecting to this, if it were me I'd be jumping at the chance to go skinny dipping with Tristan Dugrey." Louise said.

"Duh, she's Rory and you're you."

"Oh yea."

"Ok, we're going to have to be quick and quiet." Kyle said, "Come on."

They quickly tiptoed to the dock, unnoticed by Rory and Tristan who were in the middle of a water fight, or splashing and dunking fight or whatever, he was seemingly enjoying it while she just seemed plain pissed.

Madeline and Louise slowly reached for their clothes that lay on the dock.

"HEY!" Tristan and Rory yelled.

"RUN!"

They grabbed their clothes and ran back towards camp.

Tristan and Rory were silent for a moment.

"Shit." he muttered.

"I should've seen that coming." she said quietly.

They looked at each other.

"Well at least it's dark." he offered.

Silence.

_'What the hell am I suppose to say now?'_ Tristan thought.

Then Rory let out a giggle.

_'Did she just... laugh?'_

"What are you laughing at?"

"It's just, I can't believe this is actually happening, I thought this kinda stuff only happened in movies. And now, look at us."

"Laugh all you want, the last time I was stuck in this situation, it wasn't pretty."

"This has happened to you before?" She stopped to think for a moment, "What the hell am I talking about, of course this has happened to you before. So, since you seem to be familiar with the situation, what are we suppose to do now?"

"I actually don't know, this is... different."

"How?"

"Well you see, usually I'm stuck with girls that ummmmm, you know..."

"Enough said."

"Yea."

They looked at each other, and finally, realization hit her.

_'Omigod, I'm skinny dipping with Tristan Dugrey. We're only a few feet away from each other. He's naked, well, not that that's anything new, but _I'm_ naked. Good thing it's pitch dark.'_

Silence.

_'Must remember to kill Paris.'_

"Sooooo... ummmm, what do we do now?" Rory asked.

"Well, it's dark so we can't see each other..."

"Yea, but what about when we get back to camp? There's light there from the fires, and I'm sure they're still up waiting for us. God I'm gunna kill them."

"Oh come on Mary, you know you're enjoying this. I mean, who wouldn't like to go skinny dipping with me?"

"Ugh! Tristan I would really appreciate it if you tried to keep your ego from exploding right now, I'm cold and I just want to get out. Oh, and I wanna kill a few people right now..."

He sighed, "Well, then... shrubs."

"Huh?"

"I thought you said you've seen movies where this has happened before."

"I have."

"So don't you usually see them covering themselves in shrubs?"

Rory groaned, "I can't believe this."

"Well you know, there is another way you could be covered..."

"How?"

Tristan smirked, "I could cover you up."

"Ugh! I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"You bet. So, what do you say, shrubs?"

Rory pondered this for a moment, "Fine, but I'm going first, there's no way I'm walking around naked with you."

"Afraid you won't be able to control yourself, Mary?"

"What happened to being nice?"

"No one can change over night."

"You were fine yesterday."

"That was yesterday, this is today."

"I will never understand you."

"Right back atcha."

"I'm getting out now, wait ten minutes before you do too."

"Ten minutes?"

"You expect me to find shrubs easily when I can't see anything?"

"Well if you can't see anything, you really expect to find any at all?"

She thought about this for a moment, "Damn."

"Yea."

"Well what are we suppose to do now?"

"I have no idea."

"They are so dead."

Tristan sighed, "Sooooo..."

"Yea." she said, "If we wait long enough, do you think they'll come back?"

"I'm counting on it."

"So what do we do to pass the time?"

"Well, we cou-"

"Wait- don't answer that."

"I was saying that we could just talk, about, stuff..."

"Oh."

"Why? Did you have something else in mind?"

She could hear the smirk in his voice, "Ugh! No! Talk. Talking is good..."

"Yea, well, you can't blame a guy for trying."

"Right, so, how'd you do on the English lit test?"

"Huh?"

"You said talk, so I'm talking."

"Oh, I think I did ok. What about you."

"I think I did ok too."

"Good, good."

Silence.

"Ok then, let's not talk about school."

"Yea."

"So what are we suppose to talk about?"

"Ummmm, who was that guy?" The question just popped out. _'Damnit, I shouldn't have asked that, too late now.'_

"What guy?"

"You know, the guy that you went out with a couple months ago..."

"Huh?"

"It was like, half and hour minutes ago, Paris asked you who the last guy you kissed was..."

"Ooooooh, _that_ guy."

"Uhhh, yea."

They were both subconsciously getting closer.

"Oh, ummmm... I forget." _'This is why you never lie, Gilmore! You suck at it!'_

"You forget?"

"Uh huh..."

"Come on Mar, I know there's no way you could've forgotten."

_'Damn he's good. Or maybe I'm just bad.' _"Oh yea, now I remember. His name was ummmm... Bob." _'Yea, I'm just bad.'_

"Bob?"

"Mmmm hmmm."

Closer.

"And how come all of a sudden you just remember him?"

"Oh, I don't know, not worth remembering I guess..." her voice started to quiver. _'It must be from the cold.'_

------

The six teenagers had run from the dock and gone back to camp, laughing quietly, but after the laughter had died down, no one had said anything.

"I wonder how they're doing." Madeline asked finally.

"They're probably fine..." Louise said.

"Yea..."

Silence.

"Rory's probably kinda mad at us right now..." Kyle said, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Just a little..."

Silence.

"You think it's too late?" Alex asked.

"If we give them back their clothes now she might go a little easier on the torture."

"Let's go."

------

"So you just forgot about him because you figured the whole thing wasn't worth remembering." Tristan said.

"Something like that, yea."

Closer.

"So Rory Gilmore was in a meaningless relationship?"

"Uhhhh..."

Closer.

"With meaningless kisses?"

"Ummmm..."

Closer.

He was enjoying the fact that he was making her nervous. Just like the way she made him feel, though he always hid it with over-confidence and arrogance. He didn't want to wreck the fragile friendship that they had going, but one kiss wouldn't hurt...

Why was he making her feel like this? She started to get butterflies in her stomach from their close proximity. She surprised herself by not moving away. Sure he could be a pompous and arrogant jerk sometimes, but he could also be nice and sweet too... and very kissable...

Just when their lips were about to meet, they heard the sound of feet running towards them, snapping them out of their trance they quickly retreated to a reasonable distance.

"Hey guys!" Louise panted.

"Uhhhh... hi." Tristan and Rory said in unison.

"Ummm, are we interrupting something?"

"No." they said quickly.

_'Damnit. Bad timing.'_ Paris thought.

"Ok then. Well, since we didn't want to die an early death, we decided to give you guys back your clothes." Madeline said.

"Smart move." Rory said.

"We thought so."

"Yea."

"Uh huh."

"Ummm, do you guys mind?"

"Oh, right. We'll see you guys later."

------

"So, whatcha thinkin' about?" Tristan asked Rory as they walked back.

"Painful ways of torture I could practice on a few certain people..."

He let out a chuckle, "If you need any help, just let me know."

"Oooh, double the pain. I like the sound of that."

"Hey, at least they gave us our clothes back."

"Yea, why do you think they did that anyways? I mean, if they were gunna give them back to us, why bother take them in the first place?"

"I don't think they were planning on giving them back in the first place."

"Then why..."

"Well, remember what Louise said? '...since we didn't want to die an early death...'?"

Rory smiled, "Those smart cookies. Maybe I'll go a bit easier on them. Just a bit."

------

"I wonder what they're gunna do?" Alex asked.

"You're not the one that has to share a tent with him!" Kyle said.

"Oh yea. Good luck with that."

Paris snorted, "You think you've got it bad? I have to share a tent with Rory! She's gunna kill me in her sleep!"

"Don't worry, you're her coffee supplier, so you still have three months to live." Louise said.

"Gee, thanks, was that suppose to make me feel better?" Paris muttered.

"No, not really."

Paris rolled her eyes.

"Well they should be back soon. Did I mention how tired I am? Well, I'm just exhausted! I think I'm gunna go to bed now." Madeline said, walking back to her tent.

Louise, Alex, and Steve quickly agreed practically sprinted back.

"Thanks guys!" Kyle said sarcastically.

"No prob!" Steve shot over his shoulder.

Paris and Kyle looked hesitantly at each other.

"There's no way I'm sharing a tent with him." Kyle said.

"Well I know I'm not gunna sleep in the same tent as Rory. But I also know there's no way I'm sharing a tent with you." Paris said.

"Stop stating the obvious."

Nothing.

Kyle sighed, "Come on, I'll put Tristan's stuff in your tent and you can move your stuff into mine."

She silently agreed.

"I suggest you get in before they come back." Kyle said, climbing in one of the tents.

"Yea." she said, following him, "But I swear to god Johnson, one move and you'll be good as dead."

"Why the hell would I wanna make a move?"

She scowled and scooted over as far as possible, Kyle smirked and did the same.

* * *

"I'm tired, I guess I'll deal with them in the morning, but I'm not making any promises about what I'll do in my sleep." Rory said when they reached camp.

"Uh, I don't think you'll have to worry about that." Tristan said.

"What do you mean?"

"Come. Look." Tristan said, gesturing to the open tent that Paris and Kyle were sleeping in.

Rory gasped, "What the hell?!"

"Looks like they're one step ahead of us."

"Well-what-how-where?" Rory stammered.

Tristan coughed and gestured over to the other tent.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

"Do we have a choice?"

She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Yea." Tristan said.

Rory huffed, "Did I mention I'm gunna kill them?" and she reluctantly climbed in.

Tristan followed.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Oh." she gave him a sheepish look.

"Scared you won't be able to resist me?" he whispered in her ear. She gulped as his breath tickled her skin.

"Keep your hands to yourself, Dugrey."

"Hey, I'm not making any promises about what I'll do in my sleep." he grinned.

"Neither will I." she said sweetly.

He furrowed his brow at the double meaning as he watched her climb into her sleeping bag and close her eyes. She looked so peaceful and angelic, and her lips looked so soft.

"Night, Tris." Rory murmured.

"Night, Ror."

_'Damn this is going to be hard.'_


	8. Chapter 8

**Road Trip**

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary_**: Rory and Tristan are paired up for a school trip. A truce is formed, and a friendship is created, but what happens when chemistry starts brewing and denial runs its course?

**_Rating_**: PG13

**_A/N_:** Someone asked me about my other trories, just check out my profile page if you wanna see them... here's Chapter 8, it's short, but I wanted to update before school start it.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Tristan lay wide awake in his sleeping bag. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep with Rory lying that close next to him. He wanted to reach out and pull her close, but that would just scare her. He couldn't believe he had just gone skinny dipping with her, sure nothing happened, but something almost did. He was sure if they hadn't been interrupted they would have kissed. In a way he was glad they hadn't, they had a nice friendship going and he didn't want to jump right into things. Well, ok, maybe _he_ did, but he knew that she didn't, hell, she didn't even know that he liked her, _a lot_.

Rory was wide awake. Tristan was sleeping right next to her. She didn't know why it was a problem, but she just couldn't sleep. She still couldn't believe she had gone skinny dipping. With Tristan Dugrey of all people. And then there was that almost kiss, or what she thought was an almost kiss. What surprised her the most was that she kind of felt kind of disappointed that they hadn't kissed, but was thankful for the interruption nonetheless, who knows what she would have done. When it came to Tristan, everything was unpredictable, and she felt all... weird, but weird in a good way, a warm, tingly kind of weird, it was hard to describe.

Eventually both drifted off into a light slumber just before dawn.

* * *

Paris and Kyle sat in silence by the fire early that morning. Surprisingly both had had a very nice sleep.

"I'm beginning to regret throwing those two together last night." Paris said.

"Mmm hmm." Kyle responded.

"I mean, they wouldn't really actually, ummmm, doing anything, like, bad to us, would they?"

"Uhhhhh, no."

"Didn't think so."

Neither of them were convinced, they both knew that something was going to happen to them, they just didn't know what.

* * *

Tristan woke up and felt something warm on his chest, he looked down and saw Rory, her arm was carelessly thrown across his stomach while her head lay on his chest, she looked so peaceful when she was asleep, then he noticed that he had one arm around her shoulders and another around her waist. _'How_ _did that happen?' _Rory stirred and looked up at him sleepily, and smiled.

"Morning." he said.

"Good morning." she murmured, still half asleep.

Then suddenly Rory's eyes widened and she jumped up, but they were in a tent, which didn't allow anyone taller than three or four feet to stand up, and she was still in her sleeping bag, so she instantly lost her balance and fell flat on top of Tristan.

He smirked, "Hmmm, I like waking up like this."

Rory blushed and scrambled off of him.

"I told you to keep your hands to yourself!"

"You're telling me?" he said with a raise of his eyebrows.

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Look," he said, holding his hands up, "like you said, you never know what you're gunna do in your sleep, so... it was just a subconscious thing."

Rory seemed to ponder about this for a moment, "Yea, I guess."

They were silent for a moment.

"Did I mention I'm gunna kill them?" she said.

"Yea, a few times."

"Well I'm gunna kill them."

"Well, they're outside, ready to be killed."

She nodded and was about to get out when she turned around and smiled with an evil glimmer in her eyes.

"You're scary when you do that." Tristan said.

"Since they switched tents, they probably already knew that they were in trouble, right?" she whispered, so she wouldn't be over heard by Paris and Kyle outside.

"Yes..." he whispered back hesitantly.

"And this morning they probably realized they were in more trouble, right?"

"Yes..."

"So that means they're probably expecting us to do something, right?"

"Yes..."

She gave him a pointed look, and his smile mirrored hers. They nodded to each other and headed outside.

Rory stretched her arms and yawned, "Good morning Paris! Good morning Kyle!" she said with a smile.

"Yes, good morning." Tristan smiled.

Students from neighboring campgrounds gave them funny looks. Most of them knew they had gone skinny dipping last night, thanks to Madeline and Louise and their big mouths. Not only had they come out of the same tent, but they were acting all... happy and cheerful, from what they heard, they were anything but that the previous night.

"Ummmm, g-good morning." Paris said hesitantly, she looked at Kyle, who shrugged his shoulders.

"It's such a beautiful day today, isn't it Rory?" Tristan said.

"Oh yes, it's so warm and sunny!"

Now they were really scaring Paris and Kyle, what was with the chirp and chipper act?

* * *

"So, where are we going next?" Rory asked as she climbed into the passenger seat. Paris and Kyle had gotten into the back without any argument, for fear of what Tristan and Rory might do to them, though their behavior caused much confusion.

"I heard something about beaches and bungalows." Tristan said, starting up the engine.

"Really?! I knew they'd finally put that money to good use!"

"I also heard something about doing some research and exploring in the ocean."

"Research and exploring? Since when did marine biology make its way into the Chilton curriculum?"

"Since Mr. Callaway thought that human interaction and mother nature combined would make a nice project that counts for half our grade."

"What are we suppose to write about again?"

"I don't know... stuff."

"Way to be precise."

"I try."

"I guess it's gunna be fun, especially now that the weather's nice."

"Yea."

"Can we get coffee?"

"No."

"I haven't had it for a whole entire day! You don't wanna deal with a coffee deprived Gilmore."

"What do you mean a whole entire day? You just had some yesterday!"

"So?! That was yesterday! I haven't had any today!"

Tristan sighed, "Fine, we'll stop by the next coffee shop."

"Yay!"

"But-" Paris cut in from the back seat.

Rory turned around, "Yes, Paris?" she said, giving her an expectant look.

"Never mind." Paris muttered, looking out the window.

Rory turned back around and she and Tristan grinned at each other. They had Paris and Kyle wrapped around their fingers.

* * *

"You guys coming?" Tristan asked Paris and Kyle, who shook their heads violently. He and Rory had to hold back a laugh at their response.

"You want anything then?" Rory asked.

Again, they shook their heads violently.

"Ok, we'll be back in a jiffy."

They walked off towards the coffee shop; once they were inside they both let out a laugh.

"They're so scared, it's so funny." Rory said.

"I know. Why is it that they're like that anyways? I mean, they should know that you wouldn't _really_ hurt them or anything." Tristan said.

"Well, I wouldn't actually hurt them. It'd be more like pay back and humiliation or somewhere along that line. When the moment's right, something'll happen, I'll make sure of it. You don't do something like that to a Gilmore and expect to get away from it."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good idea." she said, then she turned to the girl behind the counter, "Hi, could I have four coffees please?"

"Four?" Tristan asked.

"Yea. Three for me, and one for you."

He rolled his eyes, "Spoken like a true addict."

"Ya better believe it."

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's to never get in the way of a Gilmore and her coffee."

"Oooh, smart boy."

"I know." he said as they got their coffee and headed back towards the car.

"Modest too."

Tristan didn't say anything, and Rory looked up to find him grinning.

"What?" she asked.

"I can't wait for the beach."

"Why?"

"'Cause then I get to see you in a bikini again."

Rory blushed, "I can not believe my mom did that."

"Well tell your mom thank you for me."

"I will do nothing of the sort. If you wanna thank her, do it yourself."

"Was that an open invitation for me to meet your mother?" he said as they got in the car.

"No. Besides, haven't you already met her?"

"Yes, but very briefly. Just simple pleasantries."

"So you're actually _willing_ to meet and talk to Lorelai Gilmore?"

"Uh huh."

"Brave soul."

* * *

"You make a left here." Rory said.

"Are you sure?" Tristan said.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Double check."

"I don't need to."

"Well do it anyways."

"But I don't wanna. I know that you're suppose to make a left."

"Just check once more!"

Of course, Rory and Tristan both very well knew that they were suppose to make a left, it was the twitching, bright red Paris sitting in the back seat that they found so amusing.

_'HONK'_

"You know what? Don't bother, I'm making a left." Tristan said.

They smirked at each other. Paris had now closed her eyes and was practicing some kind of meditating breathing, while Kyle was supposedly pretending to sleep again.

Something told them this was going to be an ongoing process.

"Ooooh, I smell the ocean!" Rory exclaimed.

"You do?" Tristan asked.

"Well, no, but according to the map we're really, really, really close! I love the beach. I haven't gone snorkeling in ages!"

He smirked, "Whatever, Mary, we all know you just wanna see me half naked."

"Wow."

"I know, I get a lot of that."

"Oh, no no, it's not that. I'm just surprised that you can have that big of an ego in that peanut size head of yours."

"You wound me, Mary."

"Awww, poor baby."

"Oh, you think I'm a babe?"

"Definitely, you resemble that pig so much it's not even funny!"

"Ouch."

Then they heard a weird wheezy noise from the back.

"Paris? Are you ok?" Rory asked.

"I - need - quiet." she gasped.

"It's ok Paris, we're almost there."

"Thank god." Paris and Kyle sighed.

Tristan kept his eyes on the road while Rory looked out the window, their lips twitched while both were itching back a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**Road Trip**

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own anything except the actual story and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.

**_Summary:_** With countless hours in a car together, a trip forces Rory and Tristan to come to terms with each other. But will it end at just that?

**_Rating:_** PG13

* * *

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Tristan, Rory, Paris, and Kyle dejectedly watched the rain beating against the windows of the bungalow. Their elbows rested on their knees, and their heads were propped up with their hands.

"Guess we won't be going snorkeling." Rory grumbled.

Leave it to the weather to bring everyone down. Well, Paris had the power to do that too, more so actually, but with her sudden change of attitude towards her and Tristan, the I-hate-you-and-die aura that she usually gave off didn't really have much of an effect on them.

"Damn," Tristan began, trying to lighten the mood, though perhaps using the wrong attempt, "I was looking forward to seeing you in that bikini of yours again, Mary," he paused, "but you know, you could always give me a private show indoors..."

Rory glared at him. "So not in the mood."

He smirked, "That's okay; just tell me when you're feeling up to it."

She just continued glaring at him.

"Huh," Tristan said thoughtfully, "you really don't like the rain, do you?"

"Sometimes I like it. Sometimes I hate it, like right now, 'cause it was supposed to be sunny and now I can't go snorkeling or hang out on the beach." she said, frowning and hugging a pillow to her chest.

Tristan chuckled at the pout on her face.

"Nice to know you find amusement in my pain." she said dryly.

He stood up suddenly, causing the others to look at him curiously, and walked over towards her.

She looked suspiciously at his outstretched hand, "What?"

"Come on." he said. This trip was supposed to be fun, he wasn't about to let a little rain get in the way of that.

"Where?"

He glanced out the window before looking back at her with a glint in his eyes that said it all.

"Uh uh." Rory said, shaking her head, "There is no way I'm going out there."

"Why not?"

"Because it's raining and its cold and I don't wanna be cold, because if I'm cold, I'll get a... cold. And... I don't wanna have a cold."

He raised his eye brows at her, "You do realize you just said 'cold' four times in the past five seconds, right?"

"Shut up." she said, aiming the pillow at him, but missing by a mile, "I'm not going."

"You know, if you dress warm, you won't be cold."

Rory stared at him, desperately trying to think of an excuse to his more than simple and obvious logic, but came up short, "I don't want to and I'm not going to." she said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Tristan let out another chuckle, "I bow down to your reasoning skills."

And then she was glaring at him for what seemed like the millionth time that week.

"You know Gilmore, that look _is_ going to kill someone someday."

"No, just you."

"Ooooh, my very own, personalized look, don't I feel special." he said with an irresistible smile.

Rory shrugged, "What can I say, you bring out the worst in me."

"And to think that I didn't have any affect on you..."

"Not in the way you think or want, I don't." then as an afterthought, she added, "And I never will."

Little did she know the impact that her teasing words had on him. They may have been meant as a joke, but he couldn't help but see the logical truth behind them. He chose to ignore her comment for now though, having other things on his mind. Besides, sometimes it was just better to deny the truth.

"A little rain isn't going to hurt you, you know." Tristan said, changing to subject back to the original topic at hand.

"What's you're point?"

"My point is that you should go outside and have a little fun."

"There is absolutely nothing fun about going outside and getting drenched to the skin by rain."

"Ever heard of dancing in the rain?" he said, the words slipped out of his mouth before he even had time to register what he had just said.

Rory smiled lightly and raised her eyebrows in amusement, "Does Tristan Dugrey dance in the rain?"

"No," he said quickly, "I was merely saying that it might be fun if _you_ went."

"I already said that there is nothing fun about—"

"I know, I know." he stopped and pondered about what he was about to say next for a moment, "Let me rephrase that. It'd be fun for _me_ to see _you_ dancing in the rain."

Rory furrowed her brow, "Why?"

"'Cause you'd look really hot if you were drenched." he smirked, inwardly scolding himself as the innuendo flew out of his mouth.

She threw another pillow at him, or, at least tried to. "God, you are such a jerk."

"I mean, what are you going to do?" Tristan continued, ignoring their last piece of conversation, "Sit inside all day and stare out the window, wishing for the sun to come out, even though both you and I very well know that's not going to happen any time soon?"

"Yes." Rory said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest again.

* * *

"What's that?" Paris said wonderingly as she sniffed the air of the room, "Is that a victory I smell?"

Kyle rolled his eyes, "They're not together yet, so there's no victory."

"Well the trip's not over, and its getting pretty damn close to a victory, Johnson." Paris said a-matter-of-factly.

"No it's not." Kyle said in a sing-song voice.

"He convinced her to go outside!" Paris exclaimed, pointing out the window at the two figures standing outside, "They've got to be real chummy for him to actually get her to do that."

"Wow, there are so many things wrong with what you just said."

She gave him a look that dared him to continue.

He gladly accepted the challenge.

"First, he did not convince her to go outside."

Paris opened her mouth to make some snide remark, but could think of nothing but truth to his statement.

"Second, Tristan's just really persuasive. He could've convinced any human being, even a stranger in the streets, to jump off a bridge."

"He could not."

Kyle gave her a pointed look.

"Well he couldn't get _me_ to jump of a bridge; therefore, he is not able to convince any human being to do whatever he wants."

"Paris?"

"What?" she snapped.

"You're not human."

Paris narrowed her eyes at him, "And pray tell, what scientific data have analyzed to come to this conclusion?"

"Scientific data?" he repeated, scratching his head, "None."

He knew his what-does-that-have-to-do-with-anything attitude was just adding more color to her face.

"Then what have you based on this little theory of yours?" she said, pretending to act cool—an attempt to show him that he wasn't ticking her off—but failing miserably.

"Wait," Paris said just as Kyle opened his mouth, realizing that she was just giving him an open opportunity to insult her, "Don't answer that."

Kyle smirked, "Oh, no, it's no problem. You see—"

"Don't go around making smart ass comments when you have nothing back them up with." Paris snapped again.

"I'd hardly classify that as a smart ass comment."

Paris stared at him, "You're right."

Kyle's mouth dropped slightly, but closed it when he heard her next comment.

"... it was desperate comment on your part, made because you can't seem to face the fact that Diddledee and Diddledum over there," Paris said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder, "are going to get together by the end of this trip, and you were just trying to steer the subject away from the topic at hand." then as an afterthought, she added, "I am a human being, Johnson, no matter how abnormal my behavior may seem."

The hidden meaning behind her words was missed by Kyle.

"Physically? Sure."

Paris huffed. He had the power to make her want to scratch his eyes out every single time he was within a fifty mile radius, which would be, always. Fuming, Paris' voice turned into a deathly low, much to the amusement of Kyle, "Well, I believe you're specific words were, 'Wow, there are so many things wrong with what you just said', so I'm presuming that there's a third?"

"Third?" Kyle asked, temporarily forgetting what they were talking about after listening to her bicker, "Right, third."

Paris stared at him, nostrils flaring.

Kyle smiled innocently, "It was nothing really, I just never thought I'd live to hear Paris Geller say 'chummy'."

Kyle's grin broadened as he saw Paris storm out of the room, face red and steam practically coming out of her ears. It was so easy to push her buttons.

* * *

"You.Did._Not_.Just.Do.That." Rory sputtered moments after Tristan had plopped her down on the ground—outside, that is—barely registering the events of the past minute. Her teeth began to chatter from the cold, not that she noticed.

"For a smart girl like you, you're not all that observant, because as a matter of fact, I did just do that." Tristan said, without removing his hands from waist. He was surprised that she hadn't removed them for him. Not yet, anyway.

As if on queue, Rory pushed him away and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You," she said, narrowing her eyes at him, "are a jerk."

With that said she spun around quickly and started making her way back to the bungalow, missing the amused expression on Tristan's face.

He lightly grabbed her wrist and turned her back towards him, "Come on, Mary, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Adventure? How is this," she asked incredulously, then she gestured around her, "adventurous? What the heck am I supposed to do out here!"

Honestly, Tristan had no idea what had provoked him to carry her outside. He thought that it'd be fun at first, when she had refused to the idea, but now... What exactly were they supposed to do? Besides dance in the rain, that is.

"Run through puddles?" was his pathetic attempt of an activity.

Rory rolled her eyes and tried to turn around again, only to be stopped by Tristan's hand on her elbow. She ignored the tingles that shot through her, and faced him, her eyes burning.

"Why do torture me just for the sake of it?" she said, annoyed. She could feel the rain seeping through her shirt. One thing that a Gilmore did not like was being cold and wet.

"I'm not torturing you. You know, if you ignored the fact that you're cold and wet, I'm sure we'd be able to find something to do." he said, desperately trying to hide the smile that threatened to spread across his face. Usually, her anger would've made her look cute, but right now, the girl soaked to the skin before him just looked downright sexy.

"Oh yeah?" Rory challenged, "Like what?"

Tristan opened his mouth to say something but Rory cut him off.

"And don't even think about telling me to dance or run through puddles."

"W-"

"No singing either."

_Note to self, _Tristan thought, _Remember to buy guidebook on what to do in the rain._

When her question was met with a blank look and silence, she scowled and turned around yet again. Tristan made an attempt to grab her arm again, but missed. Normally, a short trip from a beach to a bungalow fifteen feet away would have been a simple task. One step, two step, jump over a random rock or log, three step, four step. But the problem with rain was that it tended to make rocks a bit on the slippery side.

The next thing she knew, she was flying backwards, expecting to land on the wet sand, but fell into the outstretched arms of Tristan instead. He tried to steady himself from her added weight by stepping out, but just as luck would have it, his foot was met with a rather wet piece of wood. Tristan lost his balance and the pair stumbled to the ground.

Yeah, just a bit.

Her hands gripped his wet t-shirt instinctively as they fell, and she landed on top of him. She hadn't taken in his appearance due to the fact that she was mad at him for taking her out here in the first place, but now she could feel his chest muscles through the soaked fabric, and she couldn't help but wonder what he looked like with his shirt clinging to his frame.

The two stared at each other. Partly shocked from the fall, and partly just because neither of them felt the need to move. Confusion was added to Rory's part. The only sound that could be heard was the rain pouring down around them.

"You okay?" he asked softly a few moments later, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear.

She nodded mutely.

There was something about his voice right then that made her feel drawn to him, and yet she remained perfectly still; neither making an attempt to get up, as she should have done, nor inch her face towards his, as she felt like doing.

He tightened one arm around her waist and placed his other hand on her back, holding her in place. He knew he should let go. He knew that if he held on to her, he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to kiss her.

But he was never one to have much self control.

He slid his hand up her back slowly, just waiting for her to push him away and yell at him. But it didn't come. She didn't move back, but she didn't move forward either. Her only movement was the flickering of her eyes: to his lips, and back into his blue orbs. His hand reached the back of her neck, and he gently started to pull her face towards his, ever so slowly. Her eyes began to flutter shut...

_'BOOM'_

The sound of crashing thunder sent Rory's' eyes flying open...

She looked at him.

_'FLASH'_

... and the streak of lightening sent her scrambling off of Tristan and onto her feet.

She cast a glance at Tristan, who was getting up from a sitting position. She couldn't quite read the expression on his face. She couldn't even read her own thoughts that were swimming around in her head. What was she doing? Or, what had she been doing? No, what had she been going to do?

"Sorry." she mumbled—not quite sure why she even said it; she hadn't done anything wrong, had she?—before turning around for the bungalow, just like she had done before.

Except this time, he just stared after her retreating figure. He didn't try to stop her.

* * *

**_A/N:_** Well, I just got some sudden inspiration to update this, so I did. :) Plus when I procrastinate, I write, and since I'm stuck on my other story, I decided I'd pick this up. If you're wondering about what Rory and Tristan's revenge will be on Paris and Kyle, it won't be until near the end, so don't expect anything yet. For those of you that are still following with this story, thank you so much for your reviews, they're really encouraging. I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter.


End file.
